In the construction of buildings numerous materials are used as constituents for the building walls. Buildings, such as residential buildings, typically are constructed with framing members, such as wood or steel studs, oriented vertically and arranged in a spaced apart manner to form the building wall and insulation cavities for insulation material. On the interior side of the studs, drywall commonly is used to form the interior walls of the building. On the exterior side of the studs, an exterior wall is applied. The exterior wall can consist of a wood wallboard or panel material such as plywood or oriented strand board (OSB). Another material used is a sheathing board, such as wood fiber sheathing or rigid foam sheathing. When wood panels or sheathing materials are used, an outside weatherproof exterior layer is required. This can be a layer of brick or inches. In contrast, traditional wall boards or sheathing materials have a thickness of approximately one inch. The installation of vinyl or aluminum siding therefore usually includes some kind of wallboard or sheathing as the underlying structure for the wall. In other types of construction, siding boards of virgin wood or molded boards of cementitious material are nailed to the studs. Such boards usually have a rectangular cross-sectional shape, and are typically applied in an overlapping manner so that the lower or butt end of each board covers the upper end of the immediately previously installed board. One advantage of these overlapping boards is that the overhang provided by the bottom edge of each board is perceived in the market as being aesthetically pleasing.
It would be advantageous if there could be developed an improved board suitable for installation on the side of a building. Preferably, such a board would be structured so that it could be directly nailed or otherwise attached to the framing members of the building.